Could Radar Be The Future Of Elder Care?

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — As our population ages, the risk of falling increases. A Villanova University professor is conducting research that could help identify fall victims quickly using radar.

“In 2030, 20-percent of the people will be above 65, so the aging population is expanding. And it’s not just in the US, it transcends boundaries and cultures so it’s everywhere,” said Doctor Moeness Amin, director of Advanced Communications in the College of Engineering at Villanova.

He recently won the prestigious Humboldt Prize to pursue his idea of using radar inside a room to detect falls, and alert first responders.

“We were able to discriminate and distinguish between different motion, and the most important motion, of course, is falling, because for elderly and aging population, one out of three elderly will fall every year,” said Dr. Amin.

Amin says he believes, when refined, the radar will be better than cameras because cameras bring up the privacy issue, and better than wearable devices, because the victim must be able to push the button on alerts to activate them. The radar does not.

min will be conducting research in Germany at Darmstadt University of Technology on his idea. He believes the radar technology should be ready for assisted living in a few years.